Madlanga fells another giant, but where should the buck stop?: John Matisonn

IDAC head Andrea Johnson resigned this week after the Madlanga Commission exposed a fabricated affidavit, an admitted cover-up of her closeness to suspended crime intelligence general Feroz Khan, and baseless charges against police commissioner Fannie Masemola. A leaked recording caught her mocking the commission and scheming to shield a key witness. John Matisonn argues this is the second NPA boss to collapse under scrutiny after Shamila Batohi, and that the rot goes back further: predecessor Hermione Cronje warned of a "skills catastrophe" in 2023. Matisonn asks why President Ramaphosa, who appointed Batohi and holds sweeping powers over NPA leadership, has escaped accountability for the failures on his watch..By John Matisonn.Which part of this story is worse: the fact that senior prosecutors targeted the head of the national police force and head of crime intelligence with charges they could not substantiate, or the fact that the police commissioner is still charged with another offence?Last week’s Madlanga Commission hearings spear-headed evidence of an orchestrated effort to bring down national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola, and General Dumisani Khumalo, head of crime intelligence outside of the parameters of the law.To achieve these ends someone substituted a fake affidavit from MP Fadiel Adams before the commission in place of the real one. Two subordinates at the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption accused IDAC head Andrea Johnson of lying in testimony under oath.Johnson had testified that she was not investigating the Political Killings Task Team because no allegations about it were brought to her attention, but IDAC prosecutor Drushantha Ramsamy said the affidavit supplied to the commission deleted accusations against the PKTT that were in the original affidavit.Johnson also admitted her relationship with suspended senior crime intelligence General Feroz Khan, a multimillionaire, was far closer than she had stated in evidence. It does not get more serious than this – or perhaps I speak too soon. As for Khumalo, the sledgehammer approach to an apparent human resources decision to hire a head of technical support services from BMW has been withdrawn with an apology.Judge Madlanga pointed out that he made no judgement about whether Masemola had a case to answer, but IDAC’s decision to put him on trial in the same dock as a major crime kingpin, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, and his co-accused had no legal basis, and would obviously unjustifiably damage his reputation.“It must have been to embarrass him, to taint him, as if he is complicit in fraud and corruption,” Madlanga said. “I understand,” Johnson replied. “I accept it put him in that position… It might have been clumsily or incompetently put, but it was never ill intentioned…“….I sit here today knowing I have to take responsibility for those actions.”Seeing the trouble she was in, Johnson resigned on Tuesday and president Cyril Ramaphosa accepted her resignation immediately. By Thursday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi suspended three investigators who had worked closely with Johnson.But the bombshells kept dropping.Before Johnson left the stand after five days’ testimony, she chose to stay silent when asked about an allegation that she broke the law by feeding information to her friend General Feroz Kahn, though she knew her silence allowed the commission to draw an adverse inference from her silence.Her reason was to avoid implicating herself in alleged criminal conduct. The commission had already heard that her claim to have no more than a professional relationship with her, yet included his whatsapp messags were references to her as “Gorgeous”, and their collaboration to fight allegations against him in the police force. With meticulously polite expertise, Madlanga and his fellow commissioners and the evidence leaders have relentlessly exposed Johnson’s inadequacy to the task.Madlanga upbraided her for being unable to explain legal principles he said would be familiar to first year law students. “I do not understand why you seek to blame others. The buck stopped with you.”On the stand, Johnson maintained a sweet demeanour, admitting even the most serious errors, assuring the commission none was intentional, and looking forward to corrective advice the commission might have for IDAC.But on Thursday a recording of phone call showed a different side of her, including her far less flattering view of the commission chairperson. “They dissect word for word,” said on tape. “I must be the dumbest lawyer in South Africa. I got sick. I had a panic attack.“He’s a judge. He makes faces. They laugh while you’re talking. It’s so unprofessional.“I’m as dumb as two bricks. It’s ok. They’re going to make our names shit. It’s just going to be a shit-show.”More seriously, on tape she seemed set on shielding Ramsamy, whose evidence proved so damaging to Johnson’s credibility, from the commission. “We’ve got to figure out how you don’t go” to the commission. “If they call you you’ll leave the country.”Johnson is the second most senior prosecutor to appear to flame out before a judge. The first was her former boss, then National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi, who withdrew from an inquiry she had initiated, without permission from the presiding officer.But the question has to be asked why nobody in government took the failings of the NPA seriously before now. When Johnson’s predecessor, Hermione Cronje, who was head of the Investigating Directorate from 2019 to 2022, resigned, her concerns were made public.In November 2023 Cronje said the NPA faced a “skills catastrophe… Its gone from a problem to a crisis to a catastrophe,” she said. “There is no acknowledgement in the organisation of the depth of the crisis.” She particularly noted the failure to prioritise the most important cases.Batohi dismissed her concerns.After the long history of problems with the NPA, new broom President Cyril Ramaphosa promised to clean up the mess, yet this is the result. It’s not just a couple of missteps. It points to fundamental problems that need intense, serious and professional attention. As president, Ramaphosa has the authority to make the top appointment as well as numerous powers to delay or accelerate other appointments. Retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke has termed it a significant flaw in our constitution. He wants a constitutional amendment reducing the president’s powers in this and other matters.Ramaphosa chose to offload the decision to a panel he appointed and eventually chose Batohi. But that does not let him off the hook. These are failures on his watch and within his authority. He is responsible.As a lawyer himself, he has even less excuse. Where was the quality control? When Batohi was chosen, local media were full of praise for her background on the international court in The Hague. Having worked in senior positions in the United Nations myself, I was less impressed.Most criticisms of the international system go overboard. It does have brilliant leaders. But a moment’s thought will tell you that as an international body, it has to try to be representative. That means inevitably hiring people from countries that may not send their best, or necessarily even have the right specialist skills.Glynnis Breytenbach DA chief with in the national Assembly, has welcomed reforms from the new NPA head, Andy Mothibi, but said they do not go far enough. “They seek to repair an institution whose credibility has been fundamentally undermined by the deeply disturbing evidence emerging daily before the Madlanga Commission.“They flourished under the noses of the very leadership now proposing reforms. If allegations of improper relationships, compromised investigative processes and interference are borne out, they reveal institutional failures that should have been detected and addressed long before they reached this point. “The entire organisation is irreparably tainted. No one raised the alarm, no one refused an illegal instruction. This is an organisation that cannot be rehabilitated.“Over the past several years, the criminal justice system has witnessed an alarming procession of senior officials being suspended, dismissed, forced to resign, subjected to disciplinary proceedings or criminal prosecution across key institutions responsible for combating crime and corruption.—they are symptoms of a criminal justice system suffering from deep institutional decay.“Adding more resources, refining procedures or making administrative adjustments cannot restore public confidence where the institution itself has become fatally tainted. South Africans deserve an anti-corruption body that is beyond reproach, independent of political influence and structurally insulated from the failures that have brought IDAC into disrepute. A body that will be effective, efficient and produce the goods..Read more:.Justice in crisis: DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach slams NPA dysfunction, proposes bold reforms to end delays and political meddling.“South Africa requires a genuinely independent Anti-Corruption Commission, established in accordance with the Constitution and enjoying the institutional and operational independence necessary to investigate and prosecute grand corruption without fear, favour or prejudice. Such a body should have secure tenure, protected funding and robust parliamentary oversight to ensure both independence and accountability.“IDAC was formed as the band aid for the woes of the NPA, but no band aid is going to fix this mess.“It is time to break that cycle by establishing a genuinely independent Anti-Corruption Commission capable of restoring confidence in the criminal justice system and ensuring that no individual is above the law.”.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Madlanga fells another giant, but where should the buck stop?: John Matisonn

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